


The Chase

by Pembrooke330



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Jeronica, Jughead x Veronica, Riverdale, Riverdale High School, Veronica Lodge - Freeform, jughead - Freeform, jughead goes after veronica, jughead jones - Freeform, veronica - Freeform, veronica leaving riverdale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 16:23:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13767930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pembrooke330/pseuds/Pembrooke330
Summary: Veronica sighed as she sat in the backseat of the sleek, black Lincoln Continental. She hadn’t been on the road long, but it was long enough to already feel the tears beginning to form in her eyes. She was on her way back to her old home to see about returning to her old school, Spence, living on campus and rejoining her old classmates.Things at home with her parents had been so unbelievably strained, and her feelings for Jughead Jones so strong, that she didn’t know what else to do but escape Riverdale as a whole.





	The Chase

Do you know why she’s leaving? Or for how long?”

Kevin shrugged his shoulders at Jughead’s insistence on finding out why Veronica Lodge had suddenly left school right before 3rd period to go back to New York.

“She didn’t tell me anything other than she had to go back to New York. She didn’t say for what or for how long.” Kevin replied as he continued to put up flyers in the hallway for the peer counseling program he was the head of.

“So basically, you’re telling me that you’re completely useless.” Jughead snapped back, scowling at Kevin’s lack of knowledge.

“Not completely. I _do_ know that she’s still in town for at least another half hour.”

Jughead’s heart jumped to his throat at the news. He had thought he’d missed her already since he hadn’t known she was leaving until he’d ran into Toni after lunch.

“I saw Veronica get into her dad’s town car. You haven’t told her yet, have you.”

It hadn’t been a question, but a statement. Toni knew that Jughead had been wrestling with telling Veronica how he’d been feeling about her lately. That ever since they’d been working side by side on a solution to find some peace between the Northside and the Southside of Riverdale, he’d found himself having a whole new appreciation for the Pembrooke Princess.

He’d found himself enjoying her company, even looking forward to it. He’d discovered how incredibly deep she was, how sentimental. She was beautiful but she was a lot shyer about it than she let on. She wore glasses when she would read, claiming she’d been farsighted ever since 5th grade. She told him about growing up in Brooklyn, not nearly as well off as she was now. He learned about how good she was at playing the violin, that she liked to knit. She even made him a spare beanie, complete with matching pins. She enjoyed old black and white movies, just like he did. She loved a lot of the same authors and playwrights and she spoke fondly of how much she missed going to the Children’s Theater when she was growing up.

“Whenever my parents managed to scrape up some extra money, we always went to the theater. We’d even get popcorn!”

Hearing her tell him so many things, the way she lay herself bare to him, only made him want to know her more ways. In every way. He wanted to know her lips, her body, her sigh as he made love to her. He wanted it all.

And the only person he had told was Toni.

“You need to tell her how you feel. If anything, for your own sanity. You’re driving yourself crazy. And acting super weird around her now too.”

Jughead had blushed, feeling embarrassed by how ridiculously head over heels he was over a girl who he never would have even considered thinking twice about until he’d had to work with her so closely.

He liked to think he was above her snobbish, shallow ways but what he really had felt was that he wasn’t good enough for her. And to top it all off, Veronica wasn’t at all snobby or shallow. She was amazing. And that only made this whole thing that much more complicated.

“You might still be able to catch her at her apartment. If you skip 6th period and drive like a bat out of hell.” Kevin said as he gave Jughead a wink.

Jughead knew he was letting way too many people in on how he was feeling about Veronica. He’d even pestered Betty and Archie for information, but the couple hadn’t known a thing.

“She never told me she was leaving!” Betty had told Jughead when he’d caught her and Archie in the hallway.

“Me either. I wonder if something happened with her family back in New York or something.” Archie chimed in as he wrapped an arm around Betty’s waist.

“Fuck!” Jughead had yelped as he slammed shut a nearby locker door that had been left open.

“Wow, Jug…something going on with you two?” Betty asked, a curious grin on her face.

Jughead sighed as he leaned against the bank of lockers and closed his eyes.

“Oh, I’d know that look _anywhere_. Jughead is in love.” Archie said with a chuckle.

Jughead had rolled his eyes.

“Well, you two have certainly not been the least bit helpful.” He replied as he started down the hallway, and away from their teasing grins.

“Why are you so stressed out about this whole thing anyway?” Archie called after him.

Jughead turned his head but didn’t stop.

“Because I don’t know if she’s coming back!”

But Kevin’s intel had been helpful enough for Jughead to make it to the Pembrooke, only to find out that the town car had left just minutes before he’d arrived.

“Are the Lodge’s coming back?” Jughead had asked the doorman.

“Oh, the only person leaving is Miss Veronica. And…I’m sorry, young man, I’m not sure when she is returning, or if she’ll be returning at all.”

That was all Jughead had to hear as he climbed back onto his motorcycle, revving his engine and roaring off down the road in the direction that the town car had gone.

He was bound and determined to find her, even if he had to drive all the way to New York, even if he had to drive all night.

\----

Veronica sighed as she sat in the backseat of the sleek, black Lincoln Continental. She hadn’t been on the road long, but it was long enough to already feel the tears beginning to form in her eyes. She was on her way back to her old home to see about returning to her old school, Spence, living on campus and rejoining her old classmates.

Things at home with her parents had been so unbelievably strained, and her feelings for Jughead Jones so strong, that she didn’t know what else to do but escape Riverdale as a whole.

She didn’t know how in the world she’d ever get her parents to agree to one of the many solutions that she and Jughead had tried to come up with in order to bring peace between the Northside and the Southside. They were making it nearly impossible for her, and proceeded to act as though she had betrayed them by even trying to come up with a solution.

On top of that, she had started to feel something for the Serpent Prince, and wouldn’t _that_ just thrill her parents to no end.  But it was beyond her control.

He had shown her a side of himself that was nowhere near the gritty exterior he often displayed. He had let her see how much he cared about the town he’d lived in his whole life. How much he loved just riding around, taking in the blooms of the cherry trees, skipping rocks on Sweetwater River, stopping to take his camera out of his bag to snap a shot of an old rusted Chevy abandoned long ago in the overgrowth of Eversgreen Forest. He loved so many of the same things she loved, and she’d even been taken by surprise with how good he was at writing poetry. Writing some of the most romantic verses she’d ever read, and wondering what had inspired them.

She found it incredibly endearing the way he ate every bite of the simple meals she would prepare. Veronica had never been much of a cook but Jughead acted as though her burnt grilled cheese sandwiches were the best thing he’d ever put in his mouth. And he looked through her family albums with gusto, smiling at the pigtailed Veronica dancing in her ballet recital.

“You were a cute kid.” He’d said.

Veronica nodded.

“I guess I was.” She agreed, finding it harder and harder to remember what that little girl was like way back then.

“And you’re beautiful now.” He said softly, looking into her eyes.

She had blushed, not really knowing what to say. She wanted to kiss him then, and not just for complimenting her, but for allowing himself to even say those words to her. She knew how unusual that was for him, and she was dying to know what it might mean. Wondering if it was just because he thought of her as a friend, if he was attracted to her, or if it was more than that. More than anything, she wanted it to be more.

But she’d been too afraid to tell him how she felt, worried he would laugh at her for even thinking that someone like him, someone so strong and fearless when it came to what he believed in, someone who had grown up with constant letdowns and heartaches and worries that she couldn’t even imagine, would ever want to be with someone like her.

So she’d stayed silent. But the silence was making her crazy, because every single time she saw him or spoke to him she had to play it cool, act like she wasn’t dying inside wondering what it would be like to know everything about him, inside and out. Trying to act like her hands weren’t shaking every time she looked into his eyes was getting more and more difficult. Not letting him see the way he made her feel was starting to tear her down and the only way she could keep herself from inevitable rejection was to take herself out of the equation.

She looked out of the window and stared at the trees that rushed by them in a blur, waiting anxiously for those trees to eventually turn into the skyscrapers of the city.

“Um, ma’am…there’s someone behind us that keeps flashing their headlight. I think it’s a motorcycle.”

Veronica immediately turned to look out the back window of the car.

Andre was right. Behind them was one bright headlight, flashing on and off as if the driver was specifically signaling to the car in front of it. Veronica’s car.

Her heart slammed inside her chest.

“It can’t be…” She whispered to herself.

But she knew it could very well be Jughead Jones. She had to know for sure.

“Pull over, Andre! As soon as you can!”

Andre slowed the car as he veered over onto the side of the highway. The motorcycle followed.

The car had barely stopped completely before Veronica swung open the car door and jumped out in a fury. Jughead’s helmet was in his hand as he stormed towards her, a mixture of anger and hurt on his handsome face.

“What the hell are you _doing_ , Jughead?” She asked, trying to seem angrier than she really was.

And she wondered if something had happened back home between their two opposing sides, or if there was some other reason why Jughead was suddenly standing in front of her, looking more distressed than she’d ever seen him.

“What the hell are _you_ doing, Veronica? Why did you leave without telling me? I thought…I thought we were in the middle of working on something. Are you quitting on me?” He asked, a sorrow in his voice that she had never heard before.

Veronica took a deep breath.

“It was just…kind of a last minute thing…I might be going back to Spence, so I was going to meet with the Admissions counselor.”

The look of pain on Jughead’s face was evident as he stepped closer to her, causing her pulse to quicken. If he only knew the affect he had on her, he might not be standing in front of her right then.

“Why would you go back to Spence? What’s wrong with Riverdale High?”

Veronica shrugged as she wrapped her arms around herself. She didn’t know if it was the late afternoon chill or the way Jughead was looking at her, but her body shivered regardless.

“I just…things have been difficult. Complicated. Maybe by me not being around, it would make life a little easier…on everyone.”

Jughead sighed.

“It wouldn’t be easier on me.” He said as he looked at her, his blue-eyed gaze penetrating.

Veronica felt a flutter in her chest, wondering if his words meant that he cared about her.

“What…what do you mean?” She asked, eyeing him curiously.

She needed to hear him say whatever it was that just might be enough to keep her from leaving for good.

“I…I think we work well together. We have a good connection. I don’t know…I just…”

His voice trailed off as he looked down at his feet.

Veronica’s heart fell. He wasn’t going to say what she was hoping to hear, and she knew she wasn’t brave enough to say it either. And she wondered why he’d chased after her in the first place.

But then, he looked up at her, a sudden determination in his eyes.

“Fuck it…” He said as he took a deep breath.

“Veronica, I think I’m in love with you. And I don’t want you to leave. Ever. I know things are tough with your parents, and with the two of us being from different sides, but I don’t care. We can get through anything. We have each other. I want to be by your side through all of this bullshit…if you’ll have me.”

Veronica realized she had been holding her breath while Jughead had been pouring out his heart to her. She didn’t know what to say. So instead, she grabbed his face in her hands and captured his mouth with her own, dazed with the longing to claim him the way she’d been dreaming of for the past few weeks.

And kissing him was more incredible than she could have ever imagined it would be as Jughead kissed her back, deeper, ravenously, his hands in her hair as her arms circled around his neck, neither one ready to end this any time soon.

“Come home with me.” He spoke softly against her lips as he cupped her face in his hands.

She could only nod, so overwhelmed with her desire for the man she was falling in love with that it was a struggle to find any words to say.

They stood together in silence, their foreheads together, holding each other. It was if they could both finally breathe easy.

Jughead handed Veronica his bike helmet as she climbed on the motorcycle behind him. Her heart pounding so hard she was sure he could feel it as she leaned against his back and wrapped her arms around his waist. He wanted to take her back to his trailer, while his dad was out of town, and the thought of getting to be alone with him all night sent a thrill throughout her whole body, all the way down to the place where she was dying to have him touch her the most.

“I should have said all of that a long time ago.” He told her before starting up the bike.

She sighed wistfully as she rested her cheek on the back of his leather jacket.

“Better late than never.”

 

The End.

 

 


End file.
